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At least 1,225 records · Page 68

Ion Mobility Spectrometry-Mass Spectrometry for High-Throughput Analysis

Ion mobility spectrometry is a widely used analytical technique providing gas phase separation of molecules. It has received increasing attention in the recent years with the advancement in technology development and the availability of commercial instruments. In this chapter, we introduced the ion mobility fundamental theory and provided examples of IMS applications, especially for isomer separation, collision cross section database generation, high throughput analysis workflows, software tools for IMS data analysis, and ongoing high resolution SLIM IMS development. While IMS is not yet routinely utilized in drug discovery and pharmaceutical industry, there has been increased interest in high throughput library screening and antibody characterization. With all the ongoing development in IMS technology and informatics, we foresee more and more exciting applications of high throughput IMS analysis in different fields including omics studies, drug discovery and clinical applications in the near future.

Ross, Dylan H.↗

Effect of Alkyl Chain Branching Point on 3D Crystallinity in High N‐Type Mobility Indolonaphthyridine Polymers

Abstract Herein, this study investigates the impact of branching‐point‐extended alkyl chains on the charge transport properties of three ultrahigh n‐type mobility conjugated polymers. Using grazing incidence wide‐angle X‐ray scattering, analysis of the crystallinity of the series shows that while π–π interactions are increased for all three polymers as expected, the impact of the side‐chain engineering on polymer backbone crystallinity is unique to each polymer and correlates to the observed changes in charge transport. With the three polymers exhibiting n‐type mobilities between 0.63 and 1.04 cm 2 V −1 s −1 , these results ratify that the indolonaphthyridine building block has an unprecedented intrinsic ability to furnish high‐performance n‐type organic semiconductors.

Fallon, Kealan J.↗

Enhancing Electron Mobility at the LaAlO 3 /SrTiO 3 Interface by Surface Control

Mobility of electrons confined at the LaAlO 3 /SrTiO 3 interface is significantly enhanced by surface control using surface charges and adsorbates, reaching a low temperature value more than 20 000 cm 2 V -1 s -1 . A uniform trend that mobility increases with decreasing sheet carrier density is observed.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Revelation of Inherently High Mobility Enables Mg 3 Sb 2 as a Sustainable Alternative to n-Bi 2 Te 3 Thermoelectrics

Over the past years, thermoelectric Mg 3 Sb 2 alloys particularly in n-type conduction, have attracted increasing attentions for thermoelectric applications, due to the multivalley conduction band, abundance of constituents, and less toxicity. However, the high vapor pressure, causticity of Mg, and the high melting point of Mg 3 Sb 2 tend to cause the inclusion in the materials of boundary phases and defects that affect the transport properties. In this work, a utilization of tantalum-sealing for melting enables n-type Mg 3 Sb 2 alloys to show a substantially higher mobility than ever reported, which can be attributed to the purification of phases and to the coarse grains. Importantly, the inherently high mobility successfully enables the thermoelectric figure of merit in optimal compositions to be highly competitive to that of commercially available n-type Bi 2 Te 3 alloys and to be higher than that of other known n-type thermoelectrics at 300-500 K. This work reveals Mg 3 Sb 2 alloys as a top candidate for near-room-temperature thermoelectric applications.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Effect of Aromatic Solvents Residuals on Electron Mobility of Organic Single Crystals

Balanced electron and hole transport properties are essential for various organic electrical/optoelectrical applications such as organic solar cells, complementary circuits, and light-emitting transistors. However, the electron transport in organic semiconductor lags far behind the hole side, making it with vital significance to seek the factors that limit the electron mobility. Here, the authors demonstrate that the π-conjugated solvents, as essential components in the widely-used solution processing techniques, can significantly suppress the electron transport if they are not properly removed and trapped as residuals. Single crystals of typical p-type materials exhibit a transition from p-type behavior to ambipolar conductance via reducing the amount of solvent residuals, and the same effect is confirmed by varied p-type materials and solvents. The highest electron mobility reaches 0.027 cm 2 V –1 s –1 and 0.029 cm 2 V –1 s –1 for 6,13-bis(triisopropylsilylethynyl)pentacene and 5,15-bis(triisopropylsilylethynyl)tetrabenzoporphyrin, respectively. Finally, this work discloses the non-negligible existence of solvent residuals even in high quality, long-range ordered organic single crystals, and further provides efficient strategies to harvest the n-type behaviors of organic semiconductor materials.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Enhancement of the Magnetoresistance in the Mobility‐Engineered Compensated Metal Pt 5 P 2

Abstract The magnetoresistance (MR) in nonmagnetic materials continues to be a fertile research area in materials science. The search for giant, positive MR has been limited to a rather small window of materials such as high‐mobility semimetals in single‐crystalline form. Here, the observation of a very large positive MR in metallic Pt 5 P 2 in polycrystalline form is reported. The observations reveal that improvement of the crystallinity results in a significant enhancement of the positive MR, exceeding 10 000% at 9 T, comparable to high‐mobility semimetals. Based on first‐principles calculations combined with magnetotransport and thermoelectric measurements, the Fermi surface of Pt 5 P 2 is found to consist of a collection of multiple electron and hole pockets compensating one another, along with a characteristic pocket continuously connected to the adjacent Brillouin zone, together with possible topologically protected band crossings. This work extends the landscape of high MR candidate materials to polycrystalline metals, which demonstrates the importance of crystallinity and purity of the samples for the optimization of the MR.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Higher Mobility and Carrier Lifetimes in Solution-Processable Small-Molecule Ternary Solar Cells with 11% Efficiency

Solution–processed small molecule (SM) solar cells have the prospect to outperform their polymer–fullerene counterparts. Considering that both SM donors/acceptors absorb in visible spectral range, higher expected photocurrents should in principle translate into higher power conversion efficiencies (PCEs). However, limited bulk–heterojunction (BHJ) charge carrier mobility (<10 –4 cm 2 V –1 s –1 ) and carrier lifetimes (<1 µs) often impose active layer thickness constraints on BHJ devices (≈100 nm), limiting external quantum efficiencies (EQEs) and photocurrent, and making large–scale processing techniques particularly challenging. In this report, it is shown that ternary BHJs composed of the SM donor DR3TBDTT (DR3), the SM acceptor ICC6 and the fullerene acceptor PC71BM can be used to achieve SM–based ternary BHJ solar cells with active layer thicknesses >200 nm and PCEs nearing 11%. The examinations show that these remarkable figures are the result of i) significantly improved electron mobility (8.2 × 10 –4 cm 2 V –1 s –1 ), ii) longer carrier lifetimes (2.4 µs), and iii) reduced geminate recombination within BHJ active layers to which PC 71 BM has been added as ternary component. As a result, optically thick (up to ≈500 nm) devices are shown to maintain PCEs >8%, and optimized DR3:ICC6:PC 71 BM solar cells demonstrate long–term shelf stability (dark) for >1000 h, in 55% humidity air environment.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

Formation of iron complexs from trifluoroacetic acid based liquid chromatography mobile phases as interference ions in liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization mass spectrometric analysis

Two unexpected singly charged ions at m/z 1103 and 944 have been observed in mass spectra obtained from electrospray ionization-mass spectrometric analysis of liquid chromatography effluents with mobile phases containing trifluoroacetic acid. Accurate mass measurement and tandem mass spectrometry studies revealed that these two ions are not due to any contamination from solvents and chemicals used for mobile and stationary phases or from the laboratory atmospheric environment. Instead these ions are clusters of trifluoroacetic acid formed in association with acetonitrile, water and iron from the stainless steel union used to connect the column with the electrospray tip and to apply high voltage; the molecular formulae are Fe+((OH)(H2O)2)9(CF3COOH)5 and Fe+((OH)(H2O)2)6 (CF3COOH)5.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Sequential optimal positioning of mobile sensors using mutual information

Source localization, such as detecting a nuclear source in an urban area or ascertaining the origin of a chemical plume, is generally regarded as a well-documented inverse problem; however, optimally placing sensors to collect data for such problems is a more challenging task. In particular, optimal sensor placement—that is, measurement locations resulting in the least uncertainty in the estimated source parameters—depends on the location of the source, which is typically unknown a priori. Mobile sensors are advantageous because they have the flexibility to adapt to any given source position. While most mobile sensor strategies designate a trajectory for sensor movement, we instead employ mutual information, based on Shannon entropy, to choose the next measurement location from a discrete set of design conditions.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Ion Mobility Separations of Isomers based upon Long Path Length Structures for Lossless Ion Manipulations Combined with Mass Spectrometry

Mass spectrometry (MS)-based multi-omic measurements, including proteomics, metabolomics, lipidomics, and glycomics, are increasingly transforming our ability to characterize and understand biological systems, but, presently have limitations due to the chemical diversity and range of abundances of biomolecules in complex samples. Advances addressing these challenges increasingly are based upon the ability to quickly separate, react and otherwise manipulate sample components for analysis by MS. Here we report on a new approach using Structures for Lossless Ion Manipulations (SLIM) to enable long serpentine path ion mobility spectrometry (IMS) separations followed by MS analyses. This approach provides previously unachieved mobility biomolecule isomer separations for biomolecular species, in conjunction with more effective ion utilization, and producing a basis for the improved characterization of very small samples.

Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory↗

Differential Ion Mobility Separations in up to 100% Helium Using Microchips

The performance of differential IMS (FAIMS) analyzers is much enhanced by gases comprising He, especially He/N2 buffers. However, electrical breakdown has limited the He fraction in those mixtures to ~50 - 75%, depending on the field strength. By Paschen law, the threshold field for breakdown increases at shorter distances. This allows FAIMS using chips with microscopic channels to utilize much stronger field intensities (E) than “full-size” analyzers with wider gaps. Here we show that those chips can employ higher He fractions up to 100%. Use of He-rich gases improves the resolution and resolution/sensitivity balance substantially, although less than for full-size analyzers. The optimum He fraction is ~80%, in line with first-principles theory. Hence one can now measure the dependences of ion mobility on E in pure He, where ion-molecule cross section calculations are much more tractable than in other gases that form deeper and more complex interaction potentials. This capability may facilitate quantitative modeling of high-field ion mobility behavior and thus FAIMS separation properties, which would enable a priori extraction of structural information about the ions from FAIMS data.

Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory↗

Street context of various demographic groups in their daily mobility

Abstract We present an urban science framework to characterize phone users’ exposure to different street context types based on network science, geographical information systems (GIS), daily individual trajectories, and street imagery. We consider street context as the inferred usage of the street, based on its buildings and construction, categorized in nine possible labels. The labels define whether the street is residential, commercial or downtown, throughway or not, and other special categories. We apply the analysis to the City of Boston, considering daily trajectories synthetically generated with a model based on call detail records (CDR) and images from Google Street View. Images are categorized both manually and using artificial intelligence (AI). We focus on the city’s four main racial/ethnic demographic groups (White, Black, Hispanic and Asian), aiming to characterize the differences in what these groups of people see during their daily activities. Based on daily trajectories, we reconstruct most common paths over the street network. We use street demand (number of times a street is included in a trajectory) to detect each group’s most relevant streets and regions. Based on their street demand, we measure the street context distribution for each group. The inclusion of images allows us to quantitatively measure the prevalence of each context and points to qualitative differences on where that context takes place. Other AI methodologies can further exploit these differences. This approach presents the building blocks to further studies that relate mobile devices’ dynamic records with the differences in urban exposure by demographic groups. The addition of AI-based image analysis to street demand can power up the capabilities of urban planning methodologies, compare multiple cities under a unified framework, and reduce the crudeness of GIS-only mobility analysis. Shortening the gap between big data-driven analysis and traditional human classification analysis can help build smarter and more equal cities while reducing the efforts necessary to study a city’s characteristics.

Salgado, Ariel (ORCID:0000000177015372)↗

Enhancing mobility and interface state engineering via UV-ozone treatment in BEOL-compatible ultrathin TiO 2 transistors

It has emerged as a potential candidate to improve the performance of monolithic-three-dimensional (M3D) integration of fused logic and memories through low-temperature in situ synthesis of high-performance metal–oxide–semiconductor (MOS) transistors. Here, we report the demonstration of the BEOL-compatible low thermal budget (350 °C) fabrication process of ultrathin-TiO2 transistors by the combination of RTA and UV-ozone treatment (RTA-UVOz). UV–ozone (UVOz) treatment of TiO2 anatase films significantly enhances stability, boosting ION current and field effect mobility (μ FE ) by two times of magnitude in TiO2 TFTs. UV ozone treatment helps to eliminate pre-existing oxygen vacancies and carbon contamination on TiO2 channels even at low temperature (100 °C), resulting in high-quality channel/dielectric interfaces with low interface states (D it ). During UVOz treatment, oxygen species (O x ) passivate the oxygen vacancies ($V$$^{2+}_{o}$), and hence low concentration of $V$$^{2+}_{o}$ would be left for ionization/de-ionization under PBS/NBS, leading to improved bias stress stability. Furthermore, the TiO 2 TFTs with thin ZrO 2 gate dielectric exhibited excellent performance including a lower subthreshold swing (SS) of 98 mV/dec with high drive I ON current ∼ 4.5 μA/μm, a high I ON /I OFF > 10 9 , and mobility μFE of 7 cm 2 /V-s under a battery powered voltage of 1 V. UV–ozone treatment enables high-performance, CMOS-compatible TiO 2 transistors with a low thermal budget, ideal for next-generation flexible, energy-efficient electronics.

BEOL↗

Atrial natriuretic peptide regulates lipid mobilization and oxygen consumption in human adipocytes by activating AMPK

Highlights: {yields} Treatment of differentiated human adipocytes with atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) increased lipolysis and oxygen consumption by activating AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK). {yields} ANP stimulated lipid mobilization by selective activation of the alpha2 subunit of AMPK and increased energy utilization through activation of both the alpha1 and alpha2 subunits of AMPK. {yields} ANP enhanced adipocyte mitochondrial oxidative capacity as evidenced by induction of oxidative mitochondrial genes and increase in oxygen consumption. {yields} Exposure of human adipocytes to fatty acids and (TNF{alpha}) induced insulin resistance and decreased expression of mitochondrial genes which was restored to normal by ANP. -- Abstract: Atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) has been shown to regulate lipid and carbohydrate metabolism providing a possible link between cardiovascular function and metabolism by mediating the switch from carbohydrate to lipid mobilization and oxidation. ANP exerts a potent lipolytic effect via cGMP-dependent protein kinase (cGK)-I mediated-stimulation of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK). Activation of the ANP/cGK signaling cascade also promotes muscle mitochondrial biogenesis and fat oxidation. Here we demonstrate that ANP regulates lipid metabolism and oxygen utilization in differentiated human adipocytes by activating the alpha2 subunit of AMPK. ANP treatment increased lipolysis by seven fold and oxygen consumption by two fold, both of which were attenuated by inhibition of AMPK activity. ANP-induced lipolysis was shown to be mediated by the alpha2 subunit of AMPK as introduction of dominant-negative alpha2 subunit of AMPK attenuated ANP effects on lipolysis. ANP-induced activation of AMPK enhanced mitochondrial oxidative capacity as evidenced by a two fold increase in oxygen consumption and induction of mitochondrial genes, including carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1A (CPT1a) by 1.4-fold, cytochrome C (CytC) by 1.3-fold, and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-{gamma} coactivator-1{alpha} (PGC-1{alpha}) by 1.4-fold. Treatment of human adipocytes with fatty acids and tumor necrosis factor {alpha} (TNF{alpha}) induced insulin resistance and down-regulation of mitochondrial genes, which was restored by ANP treatment. These results show that ANP regulates lipid catabolism and enhances energy dissipation through AMPK activation in human adipocytes.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

Moderate extracellular acidification inhibits capsaicin-induced cell death through regulating calcium mobilization, NF-{kappa}B translocation and ROS production in synoviocytes

Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Moderate extracellular acidification regulates intracellular Ca{sup 2+} mobilization. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Moderate acidification activates NF-{kappa}B nuclear translocation in synoviocytes. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Moderate acidification depresses the ROS production induced by capsaicin. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Moderate acidification inhibits capsaicin-caused synoviocyte death. -- Abstract: We previously show the expression of transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) in primary synoviocytes from collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) rats. Capsaicin and lowered extracellular pH from 7.4 to 5.5 induce cell death through TRPV1-mediated Ca{sup 2+} entry and reactive oxygen species (ROS) production. However, under the pathological condition in rheumatoid arthritis, the synovial fluid is acidified to a moderate level (about pH 6.8). In the present study, we examined the effects of pH 6.8 on the TRPV1-mediated cell death. Our finding is different or even opposite from what was observed at pH 5.5. We found that the moderate extracellular acidification (from pH 7.4 to 6.8) inhibited the capsaicin-induced Ca{sup 2+} entry through attenuating the activity of TRPV1. In the mean time, it triggered a phospholipse C (PLC)-related Ca{sup 2+} release from intracellular stores. The nuclear translocation of NF-{kappa}B was found at pH 6.8, and this also depends on PLC activation. Moreover, the capsaicin-evoked massive ROS production and cell death were depressed at pH 6.8, both of which are dependent on the activation of PLC and NF-{kappa}B. Taken together, these results suggested that the moderate extracellular acidification inhibited the capsaicin-induced synoviocyte death through regulating Ca{sup 2+} mobilization, activating NF-{kappa}B nuclear translocation and depressing ROS production.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

Mobility of tethering factor EEA1 on endosomes is decreased upon stimulation of EGF receptor endocytosis in HeLa cells

Tethering factor EEA1, mediating homotypic fusion of early endosomes, was shown to be localized in membrane-bound state both in serum-deprived and stimulated for EGF receptor endocytosis cells. However, it is not known whether dynamics behavior of EEA1 is affected by EGF stimulation. We investigated EEA1 cytosol-to-membrane exchange rate in interphase HeLa cells by FRAP analysis. The data obtained fitted two-states binding model, with the bulk of membrane-associated EEA1 protein represented by the mobile fraction both in serum-starved and EGF-stimulated cells. Fast recovery state had similar half-times in the two cases: about 1.6 s and 2.8 s, respectively. However, the recovery half-time of slowly cycled EEA1 fraction significantly increased in EGF-stimulated comparing to serum-starved cells (from 21 to 99 s). We suppose that the retardation of EEA1 fluorescence recovery upon EGF-stimulation may be due to the increase of activated Rab5 on endosomal membranes, the growth of the number of tethering events between EEA1-positive vesicles and their clustering. - Highlights: • EEA1 mobility was compared in serum-starved and EGF-stimulated interphase HeLa cells. • FRAP analysis revealed fast and slow components of EEA1 recovery in both cases. • Stimulation of EGFR endocytosis did not affect fast EEA1 turnover. • EGF stimulation significantly increased half-time of slowly exchanged EEA1 fraction.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

Membrane proteins significantly restrict exosome mobility

Exosomes are membrane nanovesicles implicated in cell-to-cell signaling in which they transfer their molecular cargo from the parent to the recipient cells. This role essentially depends on the exosomes' small size, which is the prerequisite for their rapid migration through the crowded extracellular matrix and into and out of circulation. Here we report much lower exosome mobility than expected from the size of their vesicles, implicate membrane proteins in a substantially impeded rate of migration, and suggest an approach to quantifying the impact. The broadly distributed excess hydrodynamic resistance provided by surface proteins produces a highly heterogeneous and microenvironment-dependent hindrance to exosome mobility. The implications of the findings on exosome-mediated signaling are discussed.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

Fine-tuning the release of molecular guests from mesoporous silicas by controlling the orientation and mobility of surface phenyl substituents

Phenyl-functionalized mesoporous silica materials were used to explore the effect of non-covalent interactions on the release of Ibuprofen into simulated body fluid. Variations in orientation and conformational mobility of the surface phenyl groups were introduced by selecting different structural precursors: a rigid upright orientation was obtained using phenyl groups directly bound to surface Si atoms (Ph-MSN), mobile groups were produced by using ethylene linkers to connect phenyl groups to the surface (PhEt-MSN), and groups co-planar to the surface were obtained by synthesizing a phenylene-bridged periodic mesoporous organosilica (Ph-PMO). The Ibuprofen release profiles from these materials and non-functionalized mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSN) were analyzed using an adsorption-diffusion model. The model provided kinetic and thermodynamic parameters that evidenced fundamental differences in drug-surface interactions between the materials. All phenyl-bearing materials show lower Ibuprofen initial release rates than bare MSN. The conformationally locked Ph-MSN and Ph-PMO have stronger interactions with the drug (negative ΔG of adsorption) than the flexible PhEt-MSN and bare MSN (positive ΔG of adsorption). These differences in strength of adsorption are consistent with differences between interaction geometries obtained from DFT calculations. B3LYP-D3-optimized models show that π-π interactions contribute more to drug adsorption than H-bonding with silanol groups. Here, the results suggest that the type and geometry of interactions control the kinetics and extent of drug release, and should therefore serve as a guide to design new drug delivery systems with precise release behaviors customized to any desired target.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗